RESIDENTS OBJECT TO DEVELOPER'S REQUEST TO APPROPRIATE PUBLIC PARKLAND

TO OUR KNOWLEDGE, AT LEAST EIGHT RESIDENTS SUBMITTED NOTARIZED OBJECTIONS TO DUNPAR'S APPLICATION FOR ABSOLUTE TITLE TO THE LAND ON 51 LAKE SHORE DRIVE (MINUS THE SMALL SHORELINE STRIP CLAIMED BY THE PROVINCE).  THE OBJECTIONS WERE HAND DELIVERED TO THE DEVELOPER'S LAWYER ON JULY 5TH , THE DEADLINE DATE. 

FYI, HERE IS ONE OF THE OBJECTIONS..... (The documents referenced with letters of the alphabet can be viewed by double-clicking on the thumbnails below)

July 3, 2010

Re:         Application by John Zanini registered as Instrument No. AT2251251 amended by Instrument No. AT2398356 to be registered as owner with an absolute title of Lot 103, Plan 1478, City of Toronto Lot 103, PLAN 1478, City of Toronto (PIN 07612 – 0131 LT) under Subsection 46(2) of the Land Titles Act

My name is **********

I live in the City of Toronto in the Province of Ontario.

I make oath and swear as follows:

I am a 29 year resident of the neighbourhood surrounding this property and live at ** ******* Street, Toronto, Ontario .

I have knowledge of this property known as 51 Lake Shore Drive with regard to Dunpar’s various applications since 2007 to develop the site and I have a particular interest in this matter.

I believe that if title for the whole site down to the water (minus the Province’s claim of approximately 25 feet extending up from the water’s edge shown in the applicant’s survey) were to be granted to John Zanini, public land set aside by the municipality for much-needed parkland in our community, would be lost.  Here are my arguments to support my objection to the application…….

1.    When John Zanini bought the property in April 2007, the survey referenced as “property description” on his title (07612-0131 LT) is the 1909 plan of subdivision survey (Lot 103, PLAN 1478).  That survey clearly shows the property that he bought does not extend to the shoreline and the dimensions fall far short of the survey he is submitting with this title application. (According to the 1909 survey, the west boundary is 66.14 m (217 feet) in depth and the east boundary is 51.2 m (168 feet) in depth)

·        SEE “PROPERTY TITLE” – DOCUMENT A

·        SEE “1909 PLAN OF SUBDIVISION 1478, LOT 103” – DOCUMENT B

2.    The 1926 New Toronto Fire Insurance map (PLAN 83) approximates the property boundaries of the 1909 survey and reinforces the fact that this property does not extend anywhere near the shoreline.  The web reference for that map is http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/NewTorontoFireInsuranceMap1926.jpg

·        SEE “1926 GAGE FIRE INSURANCE MAP, PLATE 83” – DOCUMENT C

3.    The enclosed Property Detail Report for 51 Lake Shore Drive from “Geowarehouse”, which has access to Ontario land registry and property tax assessment information, shows the property as “not on water” and perimeter and area calculations that, in my opinion, are based on the boundaries of the aforementioned 1909 survey.

·        SEE “GEOWAREHOUSE REPORT” – DOCUMENT D

4.    When proportions are scaled to known adjacent property boundaries, the dimensions of this property as per the 1909 survey are exactly the same as the R2 portion of the site shown on the City’s most recent zoning map and currently on their website. The web reference for that map is http://map.toronto.ca/imapit/iMapIt.jsp?app=ZONING

·        SEE “CURRENT CITY PROPERTY ZONING MAP, 51 LAKE SHORE DRIVE” – DOCUMENT E

5.    The City’s zoning map shows the rest of the site as G zoned – open space – an unbroken extension of Prince of Wales Park along the shore.

·        SEE ABOVE

6.    According to Citizens Concerned for the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront’s “Towards an Ecological Restoration of Etobicoke’s Waterfront”, Prince of Wales Park is a lakefill public park constructed from excavated material in 1968 when the municipality built the R.L. Clark water filtration plant.  The web reference for this is http://www.ccfew.org/TERSE300.PDF

·        SEE ”TOWARDS THE ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION OF SOUTH ETOBICOKE, PAGE 25 – DOCUMENT F

7.    I believe that, when the Town of New Toronto was merged in to the Borough of Etobicoke, illegal lakefill that had been done by New Toronto waterfront owners over the years to extend their property and lakefill work done by the municipality after storm damage and to expand public space as with Prince of Wales Park was all claimed by the Borough of Etobicoke, zoned G and set aside for future waterfront parkland in a Borough that, by necessity, could only make waterfront parks by filling in the lake.

8.    To my knowledge, G zoning is never applied to private property.  (What landowner would willingly consent to having part of his property zoned “open space”?)

9.    I believe that the only land that John Zanini should have title to is the land shown in the 1909 survey and referenced on his property title, that he was fully aware of those property boundaries when he bought the property and that he should be given title to only that portion of the site.  The lands between the 1909 survey and those claimed by the Ministry of Natural Resources on behalf of the Province are, I believe, public lands reserved for parkland and should not be granted to a developer to build private residences.

·        SEE “MAP SHOWING G-ZONED PORTION OF 51 LAKE SHORE DRIVE” – DOCUMENT G